Gad Arazi’s Personal Submarine

What scuba certifications do you hold?  And what pilot certificates do you hold?  Do you have a skipper’s license as well? I hold an Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver certification and a speed boat skipper’s license.  I am currently a student pilot working on my private pilot certificate.

What is your engineering background? I have worked as an auto mechanic.

What made you decide to build a submarine? One day at  the beach, I saw people going diving with a personal scooter, and I was thinking how  handicapped or people with limited mobility could do this. So I decided to build something that people with limited mobility could maneuver under  water. And in the very early design phase, I decided to build it for speed and strength, to please myself and to make it fun to operate. And it turned out to be a lot of fun.  You do need to remember, this is still “scuba”, so you need to remember to breathe because it tends to take your breath away due to the fun factor.

Tell us about some of the special features of your submarine? The main thing is that it is easy to carry (modular),  you can transport it in your small car. It is relatively reliable and easy to operate. At the slower speeds, you have about 2 hours of battery power and at the faster speeds, you will have about a half hour.

How is the submarine powered? The submarine has two electric motors on each side, moving on an axle for up or down. To turn, you simply operate just one of the motors.  There is a potentiometer that controls the power.

How long did it take for you to design and build the submarine? It took about 3 years to develop it, and it was an endless experiment. 

How much time have you logged operating the submarine?

How many patents do you hold?  I have one patent for the propeller guard, pending in the US, and PCT world wide.

Do you plan to market the submarine and offer them for sale to the public? Yes but I will need an Investor/Partner for that.  Because the submarine is still a prototype, it is not ready for marketing.

Do you think the United States is a better place to market the submarine? Not necessarily, but it is a good place to build and market it.  The market is basically anywhere near water, especially at diving locations. 

If you do start to produce and sell the submarine, how much do you think they will sell for? Hard to tell at this point, but I’d like it to be affordable, somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 USD. Similar submarines are selling for in the 10s of thousands of dollars.

How successful is your propeller guard? The propeller guard is the best that you can find in the market. The problem was that I didn’t have the funds for marketing. The shipping cost from Israel was expensive. The propeller guard was invented out of necessity, I needed a prop-guard for my submarine and there was nothing available.  So I invented one for myself, and then I thought why not make it available for others. The process was not easy, it took some time until I had a good product. 

What are some of the other interesting projects that you have worked on or developed?